Don't Sign an Analytics Marketing Agency Until It Names These 3 Jobs
Get three jobs in writing before signing: UTM tagging rules, a written audit document and a named team. Each is named by only one of four agency service pages, so a proposal may skip them.
Three jobs are named by only one of four agency service pages: UTM tagging rules, a written audit document and a named team. Those are the three to get in writing. This page compares what four analytics marketing agencies say they deliver on their own service pages, so you can see what a proposal may skip and ask for it.
Compare scope before price. A price only tells you something once you know which jobs it covers.
Analytics agencies sell four layers of work, and the four pages stop at different layers
The work comes in layers. First, your site has to record the right actions. Second, someone checks that those records are correct. Third, the numbers reach a report that someone reads.
Fourth comes analysis: grouping customers, forecasting, and working out which channel earned the sale.
Forthea, Vidi Corp and Noble Studios describe all of the first three. Artefact’s marketing analytics page leans toward the fourth: “advanced customer segmentation”, predictive analytics, multi-touch attribution and marketing mix modelling. Forthea also lists mix modelling, multi-touch attribution and customer segmentation (Forthea), so the modeling layer is not Artefact’s alone.
Noble Studios sells on cost. It calls itself a Google-certified digital marketing agency and says it brings insights “at a fraction of the cost of an in-house team” (Noble Studios). Notice the comparison: it is measured against hiring staff, not against other agencies.
“GA4 setup” covers four separate items, so ask which ones a proposal includes
Four terms in plain words:
- GA4 (Google Analytics 4) is Google’s analytics tool, where visits and conversions get counted.
- UTM parameters are labels added to a link so analytics can tell which campaign sent the visitor.
- Google Tag Manager (GTM) holds your tracking code, so tags can be added or changed without editing the site.
- The data layer is the information your site passes to Tag Manager.
Forthea says it covers “the basics with goals/filters/views and UTM parameters” first, then configures GA4 around your marketing objectives and revenue goals (Forthea). The same page says GTM lets it manage your pixels across sites and platforms, and that its conversion tracking runs from phone calls and web forms to page visits.
Vidi Corp says it can set up GA4 “from scratch” and that every GA4 setup it does runs through Tag Manager (Vidi Corp). Noble Studios lists GA4 custom event setup, phone call tracking and GTM Consent Mode (Noble Studios).
On these pages, setup, UTM rules, Tag Manager and conversion events appear as separate items. So if a proposal says only “GA4 setup”, ask which of the four it includes.
Only Vidi Corp promises a written audit document you can hand to another developer
Vidi Corp’s audit checks four areas: technical GA settings, the base GTM tag, each custom conversion, and the data layer. It then delivers “an audit document that covers all the discovered issues and recommendations on how to solve them” (Vidi Corp). A written fix list can go to any developer or any other agency. A call where someone talks you through the findings leaves you nothing to hand on.
Noble Studios lists both a GA4 audit and a Google Tag Manager audit (Noble Studios). Its page doesn’t say what you receive when the audit is done, so ask.
All four pages offer dashboards (see the table below). One item is worth defining: Noble lists daily storage of GA4 data in BigQuery, Google’s data warehouse, which keeps a copy of your data outside the reporting tool (Noble Studios).
Also ask where your report comes from. AgencyAnalytics is a client-reporting platform sold to marketing agencies, and its Ask AI feature “scans every account”. Software that sweeps all of an agency’s clients is not the same as an analyst reading your account. Ask which one you are paying for.
Only Forthea names who works on your account; the other three pages name no roles
Forthea’s analytics team has three roles (Forthea):
- Account Lead: project guidance, goal alignment and team coordination.
- Analytics Lead: strategy and data analysis.
- Analytics Specialist.
Ask every agency on your shortlist for the same map. If a proposal names only an account manager, you can’t tell who builds your tags or who reads the data.
Side-by-side: three of twelve deliverables appear on only one agency’s page
Each cell comes from the agency’s own service page: Forthea, Vidi Corp, Noble Studios and Artefact. “Listed” means the page names the item. A dash means the page doesn’t name it. Treat each dash as a question for that agency, not as proof it skips the work.
| Deliverable | Forthea | Vidi Corp | Noble Studios | Artefact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GA4 setup | Listed (basics first: goals, filters, views, UTM) | Listed (“from scratch”) | Listed (custom event setup) | — |
| UTM tagging | Listed | — | — | — |
| Google Tag Manager | Listed | Listed (all GA4 work runs through it) | Listed (GTM audit, Consent Mode) | — |
| Data layer | Named in a client testimonial | Listed (audit area) | — | — |
| Conversion or sales tracking | Listed (calls, forms) | Listed (GA4 conversions) | Listed (custom events, calls) | Listed (online and offline sales) |
| Audit | — | Listed (four areas) | Listed (GA4 and GTM) | — |
| Written audit document | — | Listed | — | — |
| Dashboards | Listed | Listed (200+ Looker Studio projects) | Listed (self-serve, automated) | Listed |
| Data warehouse or raw data storage | — | Listed (BigQuery as one source of truth) | Listed (daily GA4 to BigQuery) | — |
| Named team roles | Listed (three roles) | — | — | — |
| Customer segmentation | Listed | — | — | Listed (with predictive analytics) |
| Attribution or mix modelling | Listed (mix modelling, multi-touch) | — | Listed (attribution comparisons) | Listed (mix modelling, multi-touch) |
Counting the rows: three items have one agency listing them (UTM tagging, the written audit document and named team roles). Four have two (data layer, audit, data storage, segmentation). Those seven rows are the ones to ask about by name.
Down each column, the agencies lean in different directions. Forthea covers setup, modeling and who does the work. Vidi Corp is the most specific on the audit. Noble Studios covers setup, audits and a stored copy of your data.
Artefact sits at the modeling end and lists no setup or audit work.
Every agency here has a gap; Vidi’s audit is the one with a stated output
Noble lists audits but doesn’t say you get a written document. Forthea’s headline case study reports an “86x” return on ad spend for one client, Hanover Company. That is one client’s result, not a typical one. Forthea also carries a credited testimonial from Emily Nelson, Manager, Digital Marketing at Service Corporation International, who says Forthea helped “architect Google Analytics and the data layer” (Forthea).
Vidi Corp’s review quotes are credited to Clutch by job title, not by name. It also sells analytics as a separate service, so its warning about other agencies doubles as its sales pitch. But its audit is the only deliverable here with both a stated scope and a stated output. If your tracking is already installed and you don’t trust the numbers, start with a written audit of that kind.
Who should skip the audit: if no tracking is installed yet, there is nothing to audit. Ask for setup instead: Vidi Corp says it can build GA4 from scratch, and Forthea starts with goals, filters, views and UTM parameters. If you need forecasting or channel attribution, look at the agencies that list modeling (Forthea and Artefact) and ask what tracking they need in place first.
Agency-written rankings are ads, and reviews without names need references
Treat agency-written rankings as ads. inBeat’s list of top data analytics agencies names inBeat “the best overall”. The same list includes Forthea. Use lists like this to find names, not to rank them.
Watch for one firm grading its own work. Vidi Corp warns that agencies running both your campaigns and your analytics “can lead to biased reporting because they’re incentivized to show strong performance” (Vidi Corp). It is worth asking about. Vidi sells the alternative it recommends, so it has a stake in the argument.
Sort the proof by type:
- A single case study (Forthea’s 86x): ask to speak to that client.
- Reviews credited by job title only (Vidi’s Clutch quotes): ask for references you can call.
- A cost claim plus a certification (Noble): ask for the actual price next to what an in-house hire would cost you.
Nine questions to send every agency before you request a price
- Will I receive a written audit that lists each issue and how to fix it?
- Does the audit cover GA settings, the base GTM tag, each conversion and the data layer?
- Who works on my account, by name and role?
- Is UTM tagging included, and will you hand over the naming rules?
- Which tool will my dashboards run on, and do I keep them if we part ways?
- Is a copy of my GA4 data stored somewhere I control?
- Do you also run my ads? If so, who checks the numbers that judge your own campaigns?
- Is my report written by an analyst, or generated by a platform that scans all your clients?
- Can I speak to the client behind your headline case study?
Fill their answers into the table above. Price the agency that covers the rows you need, in writing.
For more on this topic, see the Agencies and budgets guides.
Related reading: Email Marketing or Advertising Agency.
FAQ
Do analytics agencies publish their prices?
Not on these pages. Forthea, Noble Studios and Artefact list no fee on their analytics service pages. Noble compares itself only to the cost of an in-house team, so ask each agency for a written price against the rows you need.
Do I keep my accounts and data if I leave the agency?
Ask before you sign. Forthea’s page says “your assets are yours to keep and you can access your accounts at any time” (Forthea). Get the same line in writing from any agency you shortlist, and ask where your raw data is stored.
Should the same agency run my ads and my analytics?
It can, but ask who checks the numbers. Vidi Corp argues that one firm doing both can bias the reporting (Vidi Corp), and Vidi sells the separate option, so weigh that. At minimum, ask for access to your own GA4 and ad accounts.
